Bell Financial Group has announced a net loss after tax of $1.83 million for the six months to 30 June 2012.
The result compares badly with the previous corresponding period in 2011, when the group posted a net profit after tax of $6.34 million.
In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), the company put the poor result down to a 24 per cent reduction in revenues compared to the previous corresponding period.
The result was "mainly attributable to lower daily execution volumes, particularly in the retail business, and fewer completed Equity Capital Market transactions", according to the ASX statement.
The company was keen to highlight the positives, noting that the result included $2 million in pre-tax one-off non-recurring expenditures and provisions – and that Bell Financial's balance sheet and cash position "remain solid".
The board of Bell Financial has announced that the company will not be declaring and interim ordinary dividend for the period.
Bell Direct – of which Bell Financial is a major shareholder – was selected to provide HSBC with a white label online broking solution earlier in the year. The service went live on 19 June 2012.
